10 Most Underrated Wrestling Matches Of 2019

The world of joshi is much quicker and more brutal than most Western audiences are used to. Epic matches are rarely told through length, more through physical impact and streamlined storytelling. There aren't wasted seconds or pointless moves. Momo Watanabe's reign as Wonder of Stardom champion was one of the best title reigns in wrestling, which is breathtaking considering that she was 18 at the time of winning the belt. She defended the belt in high octane bouts, going through the majority of the Stardom roster in classics against Tam Nakano and Utami Hayashishita among others, before losing to Arisa Hoshiki in a masterpiece.

Arisa's journey to the title was fascinating. She started wrestling in 2011 at the age of 16 before retiring a year later, progressing into shoot boxing and other creative endeavours. She was gone from Stardom for the majority of the decade, missing the main event runs of Kairi Hojo and Io Shirai, before making a part time return in 2018 and going full time again at the start of 2019. Her return was huge and it offered up a new challenger for Momo's legendary reign, and she ended up kicking her way to history.

The match was relentless, filled with gnarly attacks to the human body. The two women threw everything that they had at each other, wrestling like they had everything to prove, taking horrific bumps and striking furiously for an electrifying 12 minutes. The storytelling of the younger veteran versus the older fighter with ring rust was fascinating, and executed beautifully as it approached the finish. The final 30 seconds are some of the most profound you'll see in wrestling, even if you have no prior emotional connection. This and Arisa's defence against Tam Nakano are evidence that she should be considered among the wrestlers of 2019.